I nearly spent more time away from Pittsburgh in March than I did in Pittsburgh. My in Pittsburgh activities in March weren’t the highlights of my month. I didn’t eat out too much. I went to one event. However, I went on three trips in March. Two of them were meant to help me continue advancing as a content creator. The third trip was for the full time job, but I had a little bit of free time.
Restaurants
I went to happy hour with my friend Michelle at Ritual House Downtown. This was completely unplanned, but I needed a drink after work. Ritual House has some cocktail and appetizer specials. We got the deviled eggs, sliders and dumplings.
I ate at The Warren Bar & Burrow twice in March. I was there even more than that. There is a reason it’s my favorite place to get a drink in Pittsburgh. They have some fantastic new cocktails and some rotating classics. I was quite impressed with some of the special and new food items. Coincidentally, they were actually all seafood. My favorite was the Fried Catfish Bites. I also got Crab Rangoon Dip, Catfish Po’ Boy and the Fish and Chips. All were very good.
I spent an evening hanging out with Cortney in the City. We started at Co-Sign Speakeasy in Homestead. This was my first time there and it’s really cool. It’s a true speakeasy as you need to figure out how to get in. Luckily, a regular was entering when we got there and gave us some hints. The inside has a 1920s vibe. We got a few cocktails. We learned we could have gotten food there too. I will definitely need to go back. For food, we ended up at Shorty’s in The Waterfront. I got a Shorty’s Smokehouse Smash burger.
I was at East End Brewing to celebrate the release of the book Beer Hikes Pennsylvania and New Jersey written by Hannah of Hikes and Hops PGH on Instagram. I got a couple of beers and a pizza. They focus on Sicilian pizzas. The book is really cool too. It details hikes you can do and the best breweries to visit after.
I stopped by Noodlehead with my friend Dani. I still had not gotten to try any of the new items on their menu. I was very impressed with my main dish khao ka moo, which is a pork hock and pork belly dish.
Takeout
I got a salad at Hello Bistro. I pack as much as I can into one of those salads and go heavy on the ranch dressing. I get a ton of vegetables.
I got sushi at No.1 Sushi Sushi in Market Square. Yes, that’s really their name. I will eat there about once a month for lunch. It’s perfectly acceptable fast takeout sushi.
I went to Madonna’s Mediterranean Cuisine downtown. This is one of my favorite lunches when I have to go to the office. Large portions and lots of great options. I really like the garlic sauce on the chicken shawarma and chunks of eggplant in the baba ghanoush.
I got Big Shot Bobs again, as I often do.
Events
I started March with the 16th Annual Blue White Ball. This is the Penn State Alumni Association Greater Pittsburgh Chapter’s annual gala and fundraiser for Penn State THON Dance Marathon and Four Diamonds. This year the event was held at The Warhol Museum and MC’d by Kelly and Elista from Star 100.7. They are Penn State Alumni and fantastic at getting the attendees hyped up.
Travels
Georgia and South Carolina
I spent the weekend in Georgia and South Carolina. I was attending the Southern Travelers Explore Conference in Oconee County, South Carolina. This conference brings travel writers and content creators together to get familiar with a destination and to learn, collaborate and find partnerships. There will be a longer blog post about my trip soon.
I decided to fly into Atlanta and then drive up the next morning. On my drive to South Carolina, I stopped at Tallulah Gorge State Park on the Georgia border. This was a cool Georgia State Park with a trail overlooking Tallulah Falls, Tempesta Falls and Hurricane Falls. A video of my hike here is coming soon.
In Oconee County, the highlight for me was also waterfalls. As part of the conference I opted to see local waterfalls and parks. I was also impressed by Keowee Brewing Company in the town of Seneca. Oconee County is home to many lakes and the town of Seneca, which is in the middle of a revitalization. They are working on bringing arts and music to the town too. See a recap of my weekend one Youtube
Las Vegas
I finally did it. I finally went to the International Pizza Expo. There will be a longer post about both the Pizza Expo and Las Vegas. This was the first time I had returned to Vegas since 2018. I used to go a lot of the Consumer Electronics Show and work conferences. This time I also got to go to The Punk Rock Museum and Meow Wolf Omega Mart.
New Orleans
I was in New Orleans for a work conference. I flew down a day early to get to some restaurants. I was just in New Orleans back in October and never posted anything from the trip. I’ll make sure to share something finally. The restaurant highlight so far was going to dinner at Cochon Restaurant.
